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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26168185">looking for a trap door trigger</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/crownedcarl/pseuds/crownedcarl'>crownedcarl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haven (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Duke Crocker Needs a Hug, Dysfunctional Relationships, Garland Wuornos POV, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Pre-Canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 03:14:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,974</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26168185</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/crownedcarl/pseuds/crownedcarl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"You got two choices," he elaborates, one hand resting on the steering wheel. "Clean your act up and get out of this town, or stay."</p>
<p>"What happens if I stay?"</p>
<p>"Same thing that's happening now," Garland mutters. "You go right on wasting your potential."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Duke Crocker &amp; Garland Wuornos, Duke Crocker/Nathan Wuornos</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>looking for a trap door trigger</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>title from 90-mile water wall by the national. i was gripped by the urge to write a quick introspection into duke, nathan and garland, caught in the middle. this isn't really a conventional route for me to take, fic wise, so i'd appreciate your thoughts and insights into this piece and i'm always thrilled to know if you enjoyed it ✿</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Again?"</p>
<p>Duke is slumped down on the bench, grinning at Garland through bloody teeth. "Evening, chief," he chuckles, one cheek resting in his hand, "How've you been?"</p>
<p>It's late - too damn late to be dealing with Crocker's nonsense. Truth be told, Garland should just leave Duke in the holding cell overnight to teach him a lesson, but he's tired. Tired enough that the sight of Duke's knobby knees in his patchy jeans makes Garland waver between being an officer and a parent, the grit in his eyes blurring out Duke's face for a second.</p>
<p>"Better than you," Garland finally replies, rapping his knuckles against the bars. "What was it this time, huh? Drunk and disorderly?"</p>
<p>"Just disorderly," Duke laughs, shrugging loosely. "Hey, I didn't start the fight. Scout's honor."</p>
<p>"You were never a Boy Scout," Garland dismisses, "Your word doesn't mean a whole lot to me, either way."</p>
<p>Duke squints at him, leveraging himself upright with one palm planted flat on the bench. His fingers leave imprints, blood and specks of dirt flaking off his skin. "Much as I love these heart-to-hearts we keep having, I think I'd rather go to sleep. Bye, now, chief."</p>
<p>"I don't think so."</p>
<p>The look on Duke's face when Garland unlocks the door is comical, or it would be, if one eye wasn't damn near swollen shut. Duke stutters out something that could be a laugh, but there's a thin edge to it, like he's not happy about this turn of events. "Up," Garland snaps, "With me, Crocker."</p>
<p>"You know this constitutes kidnapping, right, lawman?"</p>
<p>Garland ignores Duke to the best of his ability, pushing him down the hallway and out the station, giving Duke's jacket a shrewd look when he shivers in the October chill. "In the car," Garland sighs, "We need to have a talk, you and I."</p>
<p>That's where Duke's belligerently jovial expression falls, eyes wary as he tracks Garland's hands. "If this is about Nathan-"</p>
<p>"It's not about him. Seatbelt," Garland warns, turning the key in the ignition. "But I'd be well within my rights to give you the shovel talk, you know that?"</p>
<p>Ducking his head, Duke doesn't reply. It's a wise choice. When he keeps on shivering in his threadbare jacket, Garland reaches into the back seat and tosses Nathan's old puffer into Duke's lap, averting his eyes as Duke hastily slips it on. It doesn't escape Garland's notice, the fact of Duke's nose buried in the collar, looking calmer.</p>
<p>Nathan did always wear that godawful cologne. It's bound to linger.</p>
<p>The car warms up after a minute, even as a light drizzle of rain starts to fall from the thick clouds overhead. "Where are we going?" Duke asks, shooting a wary look out into the darkness, "If you're thinking about killing me and dumping the body, this really isn't the place."</p>
<p>"Oh, I know a place or two."</p>
<p>He takes them down to the docks, where the waves are starting to rage against the shore. More than once, Garland's caught Duke in the rearview mirror as he drives by, staring at the ocean, like he was contemplating wading out and disappearing into it.</p>
<p>He rolls down his window partway, lighting a cigarette while Duke fidgets in the passenger seat. As Garland exhales deeply, Duke finally asks "Didn't you say you needed to talk to me?"</p>
<p>"I did."</p>
<p>Mulling the words over, Garland finally asks "What the hell are you really doing this for, son?"</p>
<p>"Not your son."</p>
<p>"Answer the question, or I'll haul you back and keep you nice and cozy in that cell for an extended vacation. You know I could."</p>
<p>"Yeah, fuck you too," Duke snaps, ducking his head. "I'm not answering that."</p>
<p>"You know, I'm not half as stupid as you think I am. Is this nonsense you trying to prove everyone right, Crocker? 'cause it's working."</p>
<p>He feels for Duke, he does. Some people are born with rotten luck. Some people just aren't dealt a favorable hand.</p>
<p>What you do with that hand, though, is entirely up to you. Garland's sympathy only goes so far.</p>
<p>"I want out," Duke tells him, conversationally, like they're talking about the weather and not Duke's murky, uncertain future. "Gotta get by, somehow. Until then."</p>
<p>"Nothing's set in stone," Garland murmurs, taking a drag off his cigarette. Duke wrinkles his nose, then peers at the beat-up Camels in Garland's lap. "Not a chance, kid."</p>
<p>"Killjoy."</p>
<p>Impossibly, it makes Garland laugh. "You're smarter than this," he tells Duke. "I know things are rough..."</p>
<p>Duke scoffs, his arms crossed tightly. "What would you know about it?"</p>
<p>"I know your old man croaking and leaving you to tidy his mess isn't helping matters. I know that if you asked, Nathan would help. But you won't ask. You think you're doing him any favors, huh, shielding him?"</p>
<p>Duke's breath stutters to a halt. "It's not his problem," he tells Garland, voice muted. He's drawing patterns on the window's condensation, squiggly lines and angry smudges. "You're already on my ass. I'm not dragging your kid into this."</p>
<p>Nodding, Garland allows the silence to creep back in, for a moment.</p>
<p>"Is this really what you want from life, Duke?"</p>
<p>"Like I get any say in it?"</p>
<p>"You do," Garland assures him, squinting at the faraway waves, the foam rolling on top. "You could leave this town. You never cared much for it."</p>
<p>For a moment, Duke looks poised to keep pushing, glancing at Garland with these damn near heartbreaking eyes, a flighty look on his face that reminds Garland that Duke is, at the end of the day, just a kid. "Well, there you have it."</p>
<p>Garland's a father, but he's not Duke's. There's only so much advice he can give.</p>
<p>"You got two choices," he elaborates, one hand resting on the steering wheel. "Clean your act up and get out of this town, or stay."</p>
<p>"What happens if I stay?"</p>
<p>"Same thing that's happening now," Garland mutters. "You go right on wasting your potential."</p>
<p>He was always a bright kid. Right now, he looks like a poor man's rendering of the boy Garland used to have a soft spot for.</p>
<p>Duke sinks down in his seat, lower lip held tightly between his teeth, the light in his eyes gone dull.</p>
<p>"Could you just take me back to the station?" Duke whispers, burrowing further into his borrowed jacket, "C'mon, chief. Do me this one solid, for once."</p>
<p>Sometimes, Garland knows that the power down at the Crocker residence gets cut. Duke's schemes and scams don't always provide enough for the month's electric. It's a sad story mired in a town filled with them.</p>
<p>Truth be told, he's tempted to kick Duke out into the cold, teach him a lesson that'll stick, but more likely than not, Duke will just go get himself into another fight and another holding cell and, well. He looks plenty pathetic, already, bruised and desperate.</p>
<p>Duke's nearing his twenties, but there's no denying that he's always had that kicked puppy look about him, the few times he's been too tired to stay guarded. He's wearing that same look, now, stubbornly avoiding Garland's eyes.</p>
<p>"This isn't over," Garland finally says before he puts the car in reverse. "Believe it or not, I'm trying to help you."</p>
<p>"Like you're on my side. Nobody is."</p>
<p>"You'd know it," Garland drawls, "If I wasn't on your side. Trust me on that one."</p>
<p>Before he drops Duke back off at the station, Garland swings by the diner a couple blocks away, buying two small coffees and a greasy burger, the smell of onion and tangy majo permeating the car.</p>
<p>He doesn't let himself linger on Duke's shocked expression when Garland hands the burger over. The silence speaks for itself.</p>
<p>Duke gets shuffled back to the holding cell, eventually. It's a roof over his head, Garland rationalizes; a place to sleep and warm up, at least for the night. He refuses to let the pull of guilt eat him up inside on the drive back home.</p>
<p>Bad things happen in Haven all the time. It's not his concern. He's done what he can.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Nathan storms home, bristling as he shoulders his way through the door, hair wet from the rain. Garland glances up from the TV, tracking Nathan's heavy footsteps across the polished wood and fluffy carpet, staring at the place where Nathan's mouth has gone bloodless, a thin line of resentment curved into a snarl.</p>
<p>"Alright, son?"</p>
<p>It should come as no surprise that Nathan doesn't want to talk about it. He violently wrestles out of his jacket, fumbling to throw it on the back of a kitchen chair, one hand running through his hair, dripping with rainwater.</p>
<p>"Duke's an ass."</p>
<p><em>Tell me something I don't know, </em>Garland thinks, refraining from saying it out loud. No matter how fraught things are, no matter how bad they get, Nathan will always side with Duke Crocker over his own father. It's a lesson he learned years ago. There's no point in forgetting it now, sitting on the losing side of a battle.</p>
<p>This is Nathan. Garland clears his throat and asks "Well, what's he done now?" with casual interest, eyes flicking back to the TV.</p>
<p>Chest heaving for breath, Nathan is briefly at a loss for words. As much as it pains Garland, he always knew this was coming, but he keeps himself from uttering that simple, cruel <em>didn't I warn you, son?</em> that sits on the tip of his tongue. <em>Crockers are nothing but trouble.</em></p>
<p>Surprisingly, for the first time in years, Nathan sinks down on the couch beside him instead of retreating to his room. He's got too much promise and youth to still be living with his old man, but Nathan's always worried about him, about his failing health, and Nathan doesn't even know the half of it. His shoulder brushes Garland's briefly, then shifts away. It's a jarring reminder of where their relationship has been headed for the past ten years.</p>
<p>"He's thinking about leaving."</p>
<p>"Leaving Haven?" Garland grumbles, the back of his neck prickling. "Well, that'll be the day."</p>
<p>There's an unspoken addition to Nathan's sullen declaration; <em>he's thinking about leaving without me. </em>Nevermind the fact that Nathan has his roots so deep in Haven's soil, he'll never leave - never permanently, at least, without it feeling like running away.</p>
<p>Garland can feel Nathan's sidelong glance, the way he's practically itching to spill his guts, but he doesn't. Garland offers a thin-lipped smile, patting Nathan's knee.</p>
<p>"Alright, then, son. I hope you two work it out. There's always more fish in the sea, though."</p>
<p>It's the closest they've ever gotten to talking about the <em>Duke and Nathan </em>debacle, the one that's caused Garland more than a few headaches. It makes Nathan's spine stiffen, like a blacksmith went ahead and hammered out the bumps and flaws, leaving Nathan standing rigidly, his jaw clenched tight. When he gets back to his feet, Garland's sure that some irreparable damage has been done, adding on to the fissures between them, Nathan's flushed cheeks lending credence to the thought.</p>
<p>"Thanks, chief," Nathan sighs, sounding exhausted. It runs bone deep, in their family, a persistent burnout you can't shake off, visible in Nathan's slumped shoulders. "Goodnight."</p>
<p>Garland's life has been marked by failures. Knowing that Nathan is sulking upstairs while Duke sits in a holding cell, that feels like the final nail in the coffin, a black stain forever on his name.</p>
<p>"What more can I do?" Garland mumbles, staring at Elizabeth's smiling face, the picture perched on the coffee table. "Honey, I could really use your advice, right now."</p>
<p>The dead don't answer. Garland laughs quietly into the empty living room, shaking his head. The dead stay silent. Outside, the rain keeps on falling.</p>
<p>It sounds an awful lot like a damnation.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>you can find my other haven fics <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/crownedcarl/pseuds/crownedcarl/works?fandom_id=9218791"> here</a> if you'd like to check them out!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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